Tag Archives: intel

Thoughts

Good stuff coming from IBM

I had lost track of IBM after they spun off their consumer hardware arm (now known as Lenovo). I didn’t get their software offerings, still don’t, so I wrote them off. But then I found out stuff like this, which has reminded me of their great hardware achievements in the past and made me glad they didn’t spin off their hardware R&D.

IBM and 3M have just announced 3D semiconductors: layers of silicone chips sandwiched up to 100 chips high with special cooling glue, to form a “brick” chip that’s up to 1,000 times faster than any microprocessor on the market today. ETA for this is 2013, so not that far off.

Now couple this discovery with their super-fast PCM (Phase Change Memory), which they announced back in June. It writes data at speeds up to 100 times faster than any flash memory on the market today.

ETA for it is 2015, so a couple of years after the 3D semiconductors, about the same time as Intel’s Silicon Photonics, a silicon and laser link between devices that enables data transfers at up to 50 Gbps.

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Lists

Condensed knowledge for 2008-03-25

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Lists

Condensed knowledge for 2008-03-21

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Lists

Condensed knowledge for 2008-03-15

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Thoughts

Apple's WWDC 2006 Keynote Address

Yes, I know the keynote address was given a few days ago, and this post is late, but something’s bothered me ever since I watched it. There were two things, actually, and both had to do with Steve Jobs:

  • He seemed thinner than unusual, and tired. His face was pale, and slightly haggard. Was it just the usual overnight prep for the presentation, or is it something else? Is the big guy alright, health-wise?
  • He shared the stage with three other presenters (all Apple guys). Did you catch that? Let me repeat it: he SHARED the stage. More than that, he had this game of tag going on with one of them (Scot Forstall, VP of Platform Experience), that went on throughout the presentation. Was he trying to send a message – as in, hey, at some point I’ll step down, and these are three of the people I’m thinking about, or did it have to do with his health (see first bullet above)?

As much as I dislike the guy for some of the decisions he’s made over the years, Apple wouldn’t be Apple without him. Plus, he looks like my dad (if my dad were to let his facial hair grow for a week), so I’ve got an extra soft spot for him.

Oh yeah, one more thing… Whatever happened to that? I don’t think I was the only one surprised by the lack of extra product announcements. Did Steve want to make sure people focused on the Power Mac, Leopard and WWDC, and not get distracted with extra cool stuff? After all, Intel’s releasing their Merom line (Core 2 Duo processors for laptops) at the end of August. Apple’s got to make an announcement about putting those chips in the Macbook Pro laptops at some point until 8/31, right? Plus, I’m still waiting for the new iPods, in whatever flavor they come: Nano, widescreen, with phone, etc.

Methinks we’ll have an Apple News Event before the end of this month.

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